Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life

A contemporary of Isaiah, the prophet Micah is most well-known for the famous verse “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). But Micah delivers this famous verse in the midst of prophecy after prophecy declaring God’s judgment on both Israel and Judah for their unfaithfulness to God’s covenant. Join us as we explore the themes of judgment and hope woven throughout Micah’s prophecies. Together, we’ll study his powerful imagery and discuss how Micah’s messages help us understand God’s character so we may walk faithfully with him today. 

The prophet Amos had an urgent and serious message from God: God accused his people of grievous injustices. Pervasive oppression and exploitation in their society tainted their worship. God’s messages in Amos help God’s people today better understand the intrinsic connection between our daily lives and our worship. Together, we’ll study how Amos’ words illustrate God’s definition of righteousness and justice, and we’ll discover a guide for practical living and God-honoring worship.

The prophetic books of Obadiah and Joel are quite short and easily overlooked. However, their messages are hard-hitting and remind us that our God is a holy God. Obadiah and Joel were written hundreds of years apart, but they both call out the injustices that God’s people were committing in and around Israel during the lifetimes of the two prophets. Their words underscore the seriousness of sin and the necessity of God’s judgment. But their messages also include promises of hope and restoration and reminders of God’s great love for his people. As we study these books in light of our knowledge of God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ, we are reminded of what a truly repentant heart looks like. Join us and be encouraged that ultimately God’s grace and mercy will have the last word. 

Good Friday and Easter mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the climax of the Christian church year. There’s no doubt these are the events at the heart of our Christian Faith. During Holy Week, Christians around the world pause to remember and celebrate the great gift of salvation that we receive through Christ’s sacrifice. The Apostle Paul teaches us that we receive this gift of salvation by faith, but he also makes clear, it’s not just something that happens to us, but that we participate in both Christ’s death and resurrection as well. Join us as we study Paul’s teaching and discuss what it means and how it impacts our lives as faithful followers of Jesus Christ today. 

The four gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry vary in their selections of stories and in their details. Each gospel writer has a different audience in mind and a different goal, both of which influence what and how they retell Christ’s life. However, the story of Jesus’ crucifixion is so important to the message of salvation that we find an account of it in each of the four gospels. Examining the story of Jesus’ crucifixion in each of the four gospels reveals a beautiful tapestry of perspectives as each writer retells the event and stories of people at the cross. Together we’ll study each of the four crucifixion accounts in the gospels to witness the fulfillment of Scripture and remember the significance of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. We’ll also see where we can recognize ourselves in the story and consequently, find hope and encouragement in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion.

When something seems too good to be true, we might find ourselves raising an eyebrow, reading the fine print, and asking “what’s the catch?” But when it comes to salvation, there really is no catch and beyond having faith there is nothing else we need to do. When Christ died on the cross, he paid our debts in full. There is absolutely nothing we can add to his work to ensure our salvation. And yet, sometimes we subconsciously begin to believe that our actions matter for our salvation. During Lent, we pause to remember the truth of Christ’s work on the cross. We’ll study scriptures that help us remember why Christ’s sacrifice is completely sufficient to satisfy God’s wrath, and we’ll discuss how we can keep our fears at bay and keep the right perspective about our salvation and our deeds. 

The cross is a paradox. By human standards, it shouldn’t make sense, it shouldn’t work, and yet, it does. In fact, it’s the greatest paradox—life from death, pardon from penalty, and justification from judgment. In the Roman empire, the cross brought death in a brutal, humiliating way. But instead of shame and defeat, believers of Jesus Christ find life in the cross. Studying the paradox of the cross in Scripture reminds us of the profound love of God. It reminds us how much God values and regards his relationship with us and that only Christ can accomplish the impossible. Join us as we explore how sometimes the life of faith contradicts the logic of this world and what it looks like to live in light of this paradox. 

Shame is a very raw, acute, and distressing feeling. We experience shame when we’re humiliated by our own sinful behavior. Jesus had no sin, yet he too knew shame— the shame of the cross.  It’s another aspect of the cross that will help us comprehend the fullness of Jesus’ sacrifice. Together we’ll discuss the relationship between sin and shame in Scripture. We’ll study passages that help us revisit how Jesus experienced shame and unpack why it was necessary for our salvation. 

Crucifixion was a particularly gruesome way to die, but when Jesus died on the cross it wasn’t just gruesome, it was cursed. Seeking to understand the cursed nature of the cross leads us to make connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament, between our deep-seated guilt and the extreme cost Jesus paid to set us free. We were rightly cursed by God for our failure to keep his covenant, but Jesus became that curse to pay our debt. Join us as we study Scripture to better understand the meaning and implications of the curse of the cross and consider the implications for our lives of faith today. 

Sometimes habits or traditions become so ingrained in our lives that we can go through the motions of them without spending much time reflecting on their meaning. Sometimes, it benefits us to slow down and once again ask, “why?” We’ll begin our Lenten series “The Cross of Jesus” by examining scriptures that help us answer the question, “Why did Jesus have to die on a cross?” Together, we’ll grow in our faith by seeking to understand what went wrong, recalling God’s covenant, and remembering God’s character and love so that we can better understand why Jesus Christ’s awful death was necessary.